(& quilting) with recycled - inventive denim tips ebook.pdf · 1 heather banks, inventive...

1 Heather Banks, Inventive Denim, 2012, www.apassionatequilter.blogspot.com

My

BEST TIPS for SEWING (& Quilting) with

Recycled Denim Jeans! By Heather Banks


Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….pg 3 1. When Making a Rag Quilt, use 100% Cotton Jeans!………………...pg 4

2. Change Your Rotary Cutter Blade Often……………….……….……….pg 5

a. Denim Dulls b. Give the Body a Break

3. Starch, Starch, Starch…………………………………………………………….pg 6

a. Getting the Wrinkles Out b. Stabilizing c. Pressing Seams d. Which Starch to Use

4. Using Sewing Machine Needles Designed for Denim……….……....pg 8

a. Needle Size b. When to Replace Needles

5. Don’t Waste Time with Weak Pins………………………………………….pg 9

6. I Don’t Think I Need to Say This but Slow Down!...............................pg 10

a. Relax the Foot Pedal b. Warning

7. If You Need to Ease, Use Heat……………………………………………........pg 11

a. Your Iron is Your Friend

8. Gloves Will Lighten Your Load……………………………………………….pg 12

9. Use a Walking Foot………………………………………………………………..pg 13

10. Increase the Seam Length………………………………………………….….pg 13 Bonus Section: Where to get MORE Jeans!...............................................pg 14


“New Life for Old Jeans”!

I LOVE my local quilt shops! Buying new fabric is as blissful as the

memory of ripping into a package on Christmas morning as a child! New

fabric will always be a part of my designs.

That being said, I also like the thought of finding new life for old

clothing, especially jeans.

As I began using jeans to construct quilts, it wasn’t long before piles of

jeans started to stack up in my house. The problem was I was cutting

them up just as fast as I was taking them in! I needed a LOT of jeans!

As I cut and sewed with denim; I learned.

Here are some tips that have worked for me so far. I hope they make

your own sewing experiences more enjoyable, when using denim or any

other fabric!

Heather


Here are my BEST Tips for SEWING with Denim Jeans (so far!)

1. When making a RAG QUILT, use 100% cotton jeans for the

perfect frayed edge!

If you’re making a “rag” edge quilt, purse or pillow,

a nice frayed edge is important so go with 100%

cotton jeans!

Stretch jeans won’t fray with the same GUSTO as

100% cotton ones. If you must use stretch jeans,

use jeans that are at least 98% or 99% cotton with

only a small amount of “stretch”.

*If you have a stack of poly/cotton jeans and would still like to use them

(for sentimental reasons or just because that’s what you have!), then

here’s a suggestion:

Starting at the base of one leg, use a sharp, strong pair of scissors to cut through the hem and into the leg approximately 1-2” deep. Make 5 or 6 clips about ½” apart. Basically, you’re simulating the cuts in a rag quilt. Wash and dry the jeans as you would your quilt. After drying you’ll have a really good idea of how the jeans will fray in your project. Sometimes, poly/cotton jeans will fray well and other times they don’t fray at all. This is an easy way to find out to find out if you will like the results!

Manufacturer brands that offer 100% cotton jeans include: Levi,

Wrangler, Lee and Kirkland to name a few. Jeans for men tend to offer

more 100% cotton options than jeans for women (for obvious reasons-

we like our stretch jeans!).


Denim Fact: Over 200 pairs of jeans can be made from one bale of cotton! 1

One other reason to use 100% cotton jeans versus stretch jeans:

TOO Much Give…

Stretch jeans STRETCH (like the name implies).

Therefore, as you sew, you can end up with some really wonky, overly

stretched seams. Go with the COTTON if you can or when using stretch

jeans, use lots of pins and don’t over press!

2. Change your Rotary Cutter Blade often.

I am extremely guilty of getting as much life as possible

from my rotary blades even in my normal, everyday (non-

denim) sewing life.

Those blades are expensive! Plus, who wants to stop in the

middle of a project to change the blade (this is also why my

sewing machine doesn’t get oiled as often as it should!).

Denim dulls…

Denim is thick and tough, this is not news. Plain and simple,

it dulls your blade faster than traditional quilting cottons do.

I am always pleasantly surprised when I finally change the blade and cut

into denim. It makes such a BIG difference to have a sharp blade!!

If you’re familiar with my Denim Circle Quilt

pattern and plan to cut denim circles with the

Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter, PLEASE invest in a

few extra 18mm blades.


As soon as you begin to notice your circles aren’t cutting all the way

through the denim, pop in a new blade. You will instantly feel (and see)

the difference.

Another thing to be aware of is that using a sharp blade when cutting

denim will reduce stress on your body and make for a more pleasant

cutting experience.

Give the body a BREAK…

When cutting denim you must apply more pressure

than when cutting regular cotton. This can become

tiresome and can eventually wear on your

shoulders, arms and wrists.

This is a good reason to stop and enjoy a piece of

chocolate every now and then and give your body a

break.

Denim Fact:

Denim is unique because it is woven with two yarn colors: the indigo yarn and the "filler" yarn, which is un-dyed (turn your jeans

inside out and see the white filler yarn for yourself.)2

3. Starch, Starch, Starch!

I use spray starch in my everyday sewing but when

sewing with denim it is a MUST.

Denim jeans vary in thickness. A hardy pair of men’s

workpants can feel like cardboard. On the other

hand, I’ve worked with denim as soft and thin

as any traditional quilting cotton.


Getting the wrinkles out…

Initially, when preparing your jeans for cutting, you will likely want to

give them a quick press to remove any wrinkles, however, denim will be

much more resistant to ironing than a traditional fabric.

Spray starch takes the “manhandling” away from ironing and works with

the heat to remove wrinkles.

Spray starch serves another important purpose as well.

Stabilizing denim…

Additionally, (and VERY importantly), spray starch STABILIZES denim.

One of the most important things I have learned through trial and error is

spray starch will help to stabilize denim and minimize stretching during

the cutting process.

Here’s what I do: working with a single layer of denim

liberally spray the area to be ironed with spray starch and

allow it to dry BEFORE ironing. Once dry, press with a

very hot, dry iron. The result should be a nice, stiff piece

of denim!

Over and over again I hear in my classes, “it really is

worth it to use the starch!”

What we’re doing here is not just ironing out the wrinkles; we are

changing the attributes of the denim.

Before cutting, ESPECIALLY circles, I like my denim to

resemble cardboard it’s so stiff. What this means is that

when I cut a circle (or any other shape), the denim will

not pull or give with the movement of the rotary blade.

This has made a HUGE difference in the accuracy of my

cuts!


Pressing Seams…

Lastly, when pressing a seam (either open or to

one side), a hot iron is often not enough. A liberal

dose of spray starch will put those seams in their

place (literally).

Which starch to use?

Spray starch designed for quilters can be rather expensive. I am a fan of

these starches and appreciate the way they minimize the white build up

of starch left by the iron.

However, when it comes to jeans, you can also buy the value spray

starch from the grocery store with equally good results!

Denim Fact: About 450 million jeans are sold in U.S.A. alone each year. On average, every American owns at least about 7 pairs of jeans.3

4. Use sewing machine needles designed for denim.

Denim needles are made for sewing with denim of all

weights. They have a strong shaft and can also

accommodate heavier thread. A strong shaft is helpful

in avoiding broken needles. Heavier threads contribute

to the structural integrity of the item and are a

decorative element that reminds us of the stitching

found in jeans.

Denim needles are an important tool when sewing tough, heavyweight

fabrics like denim.


Needle Size…

You can purchase three sizes of denim needles:

14, 16 and 18. I most often use a size 16 needle

when sewing with denim. This is the size I

recommend in my classes and patterns. I find this

needle size accommodates all weights of denim I run across.

Replacing Needles…

How often and when should a sewing machine needle be replaced? This is

one of the hardest questions to answer.

Replace your sewing machine needle when…

-The needle becomes dull (hitting a pin can dull the point of the needle).

-The needle becomes even slightly bent (hitting 'too' many layers of

fabric with the wrong sized needle can bend it).

-The tip or point of the needle gets a nick or a snag (easy to do if the

needle was not the right size for the fabric being sewn).

-After every eight hours of running the machine. Needle companies

suggest that a needle (when used properly) has about 8 hours of life in its

tip. *Tips for when to replace a needle were recommended by Zsuzsy Bee at HubPages.com.

5. Don’t waste your time with weak pins.

Does this seem like a no-brainer? Honestly, it wasn’t for me!

I go back and forth between which type of pin to use and it really does

vary depending on what I’m doing. I like flower heads because you can


iron with them in place and they’re moderately strong but on the down

side they bend easily in heavy fabrics and aren’t very sharp.

I like glass head pins because they’re long and very sharp

but then again, they’re not flat and they bend easily.

So, what’s a girl to do?

My solution for working with denim is to use a very strong, sharp pin

with a round, yellow head. The ones I use are called “Quilting Pins” by

Collins, they retail for $6.99 and come 250 to a box. I have also run

across another brand with good results, “Quilter’s Pins” by EZ Quilting.

These are another strong pin with yellow and white heads.

These pins easily go through multiple layers of denim and I haven’t had

nearly as many problems with bending.

6. I don’t think I need to say this but... but slow down!

Heavy duty “commercial” sewing machines can sew over the toughest

denim at fairly high speeds. However, most home sewers do not sew on

commercial machines so it is important to remember that although your

machine can sew over denim, there are still times when it pays to go

slowly!

I can buzz away at my machine all day long

when sewing on denim. I’m not concerned

about breaking my needle (ahem-denim

needle!) because home based sewing machines

are sturdy and designed to sew through all

kinds of fabric.

However, there comes a time when I need to

sew through multiple, stacked layers of denim. It’s inevitable.


Relax the Foot Pedal…

The good news is that something as simple as

slowing down really helps! If you have a thick

enough stack of denim in front of you, just walk

the needle through the fabric. As long as you’re

not hitting a rivet, zipper, or pin, you WILL be

able to sew through the fabric.

I would also mention that I got a tip from Nancy Zieman’s website

regarding sewing over flat-felled seams, here’s what she suggests when

sewing over bulky denim seams:

To successfully hem jeans, fold up the hem and flatten the flat-

felled area with a hammer

before stitching. A perfect cure for the denim-bump blues. 7

Here’s an additional thought, PAD the end of the

hammer with batting to prevent it from damaging the fabric. Hold the

batting in place with a rubber band. Really pound away at any thick

seams BEFORE sewing to get them as flat as possible.

This tip came from Madge Ziegler (6/12/12: Top Tip Tuesday: Facebook.com/MadgeZieglerQuilts)

and she swears it makes a huge difference in getting over those bumpy

denim seams that break needles and stall machines! Thanks Nancy and

Madge!

Piece-o-cake. Well, maybe not THAT easy but it can be done. I see it

in my classes all the time.

Caveat (Warning or Caution)…

*I should add here that there is a point, of course, where a traditional sewing machine simply will not be able to sew through denim. If going slow, smacking thick seams with a hammer and using a denim needle


isn’t working for you, you may want to consider a semi-industrial or a true industrial sewing machine.

Every once in a while I run into someone who is sewing on a very small, lightweight, inexpensive machine (often but not necessarily purchased at a discount store). In such cases it IS possible that the motor in such machines will not have enough “oomph” to continuously sew over denim without overheating or jamming up.

Denim Fact: The largest consumers of denim in the U.S. are: Levi Strauss, VF

Corporation, Wal-Mart, Gap and JC Penny!5

7. If you need to ease, use HEAT.

Denim stretches regardless of whether you’re working

with a cotton/poly blend, lycra or 100% cotton. This

especially tends to be the case if you are working with

former blue jeans (versus denim off the bolt)! Yes, you

CAN buy it off the bolt if you’d like!

As you piece together quilts and other projects you will

often need to match seams, points, etc. At times, you will

find that as you pressed and sewed, one piece of denim

became longer than the other. Don’t Panic!

Your Iron is Your Friend…

Adding heat via your iron softens the denim and makes it easier to

“ease” two pieces of denim together. Do NOT stretch the denim further

by pulling as you iron! The goal is to just add a bit of heat allowing you

to bring two pieces of fabric together where they should match!


8. Gloves will lighten your load!

Once you’re beyond working with individual blocks and you’ve begun

some serious piecing, you will begin to notice how heavy the steadily

growing denim piece becomes.

Before long, you can develop some serious neck, shoulder and arm pain

just from moving those big, thick pieces around underneath the machine.

I have found that using quilting gloves (i.e.

Machingers or Quiltaroos) helps immensely!

The tips of the fingers are dipped in a

resistant plastic which grips the quilt as you

move it around. The gloves keep the weight

in your hands and take a lot of the pressure

off of your arms and shoulders!

Denim Fact: Until 1960, "waist overalls" was the traditional term used for denim pants. By the late 1950s, teenage wearers were calling

them jeans, so Levi Strauss officially began using the name, too.6

9. Use a Walking Foot

A walking foot works by feeding both pieces of fabric under the presser

foot and moving them forward at the same time.

When working with a bulky fabric that likes to stretch- a walking foot

really comes in handy! In cases where you need to match intersecting

seams or points/curves, a walking foot will lessen the likelihood that one

piece of fabric will shift or slide in front of the other. If you see puckers

or pleats, try a walking foot.


I highly recommend a walking foot in my denim patterns and have great

success in matching seams and minimizing tucks compared to using a

traditional foot.

10. Increase the Seam Length

When working with a bulky fabric like denim, you’ll get better results

with a slightly larger than normal stitch length. For the most part, I use

a “normal” stitch length of 2.5 mm even with denim when I’m just sewing

together a couple of pieces.

However, when I’m sewing through multiple layers I’ll set my stitch

length to 3.0-3.5 mm. I find this makes for a smoother stitch and

lessens the chance of breaking a needle or thread!

I especially like to lengthen my stitch length when I’m top stitching,

which makes for a smooth, attractive finish.

Denim Fact: The orange thread traditionally used to sew Levi Strauss blue

jeans was intentionally selected to match the copper rivets that doubled the durability of the jeans.6


BONUS Section: Where can I get MORE jeans?

When I run out of my families’ jeans, where can I find more?

Here are some things I do regularly to replenish my supply

of denim!

Craig’s list (craigslist.com). I place an ad stating that I

am looking for 100% cotton jeans, sized adult and I

include how much I am willing to pay for them. I find it

saves gas if you can meet them at a local spot in town

versus going to their home, PLUS it’s safer!

I have paid $3.00 for adult pants and $2.00 for Capri’s.

I don’t take shorts; there’s just not enough denim to

make it worthwhile and I typically don’t want dresses

or shirts because the denim is usually pretty thin.

Recently I have lowered my prices, paying no more

than $1.00-$2.00 a pair.

Work. When I was working in an office, I was

surprised at how many people had boxes of jeans

stored in their home that they were more than happy

to donate to my cause. Also, since these same

people often donate their old jeans to thrift stores, by

giving them to me they saved themselves a trip to the

donation center!

Thrift stores. The price of jeans at thrift stores

varies considerably. I have found Saver’s to be a

terrific source and on Mondays all tags of a certain


color are 99 cents!!

Almost all thrift stores have days where certain items

are marked down you just need to check them out in

advance. I almost never pay full price for a pair of

jeans in a thrift store.

I also have heard (but not tried this myself yet) that if

you talk to the store they will often give you the jeans

they can’t sell. These jeans are often stained or

ripped to the point of being unsellable. If anyone’s

tried this, let me know!! I’d love to know if it really

works! ([email protected]).

Yard sales. By far the cheapest source (other than

free) is a yard sale. Unfortunately, this is limited to

summertime in my area. The nice thing about yard

sales is that most people don’t seem to want more

than 50 cents-$1.00 for their jeans. Sometimes I can

get a really good deal if I offer to take a stack; after

all, most of us have yard sales to get rid of stuff! If

you can find community yard sales, these are usually

like gold!

Sometimes I come across yard sales where the sellers

seem to think their jeans were woven with strands of

gold. They want $3-$5 (and sometimes more) for a

USED pair of off the rack, JC Penney jeans! Yikes! I

pass on these “deals”! I wonder how many pairs they

are left with at the end of the day!

mailto:[email protected]


If you have any of your own tips to share, please email me at: [email protected].

I would LOVE to give you credit for your idea!! Thank you for reading this E-Book!

To see my denim patterns, please visit my blog at: www.apassionatequilter.blogspot.com

or my Etsy store at: www.etsy.com/shop/apassionatequilter.

References: 1 http://www.beembee.com/2010/10-interesting-facts-about-jeans

2 http://fashion.about.com/cs/jeans/a/allaboutjeans.htm 3 http://www.magforwomen.com/did-you-know-these-facts-about-denim/ 4 http://zsuzsybee.hubpages.com/hub/Sewing-Machine-Needles-An-Illustrated-Guide-to-the-many-Types-of-Sewing-Machine-Needles 5 http://olahinc.com/denim_survival_guide/facts-about-denim/ 6 http://levistrauss.com 7 http://www.babylock.com/inside-scoop/nancy-zieman-tips/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.apassionatequilter.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/apassionatequilter

http://www.magforwomen.com/did-you-know-these-facts-about-denim/

http://zsuzsybee.hubpages.com/hub/Sewing-Machine-Needles-An-Illustrated-Guide-to-the-many-Types-of-Sewing-Machine-Needles

http://zsuzsybee.hubpages.com/hub/Sewing-Machine-Needles-An-Illustrated-Guide-to-the-many-Types-of-Sewing-Machine-Needles

http://olahinc.com/denim_survival_guide/facts-about-denim/

(& quilting) with recycled - inventive denim tips ebook.pdf · 1 heather banks, inventive...

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